EDFR 6300 - Foundations of Educational Research

The course is an introduction to research methodology in education. It focuses on the relationship between research problem, questions and design and introduces students to techniques for collecting and analyzing research data. The course emphasis is on writing an analysis and synthesis of research methodology and findings in empirical articles. Lec. 3, Cr. 3.

INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS:

Project 1: Article Analysis

Students will select five empirical research articles from peer reviewed journals, and will analyze the articles focusing on the research design and the relationships between theory, methods, and claims. Analysis will be conducted to identify research questions, theoretical framework, research design and methods for participant selection, data collection and type of data analysis. By analyzing research methodology as reported in the article, the students will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the research report and the claims the author(s) make. AERA research reporting standards should be used in evaluating the research article.

Project 2: Statement of the Research Problem

Students will choose a topic of interest to them and will use this topic as an anchor for selecting and analyzing research articles and doing the literature analysis. The research topic chosen will be narrowed down (or expanded) to reformulate into an instructional problem for the purpose of research. The research problem will include the context (background) and need for studying the topic, the participants to be studied, and the potential research design that would address the problem. The statement of the problem will draw on at least four peer-reviewed research articles.

Project 3: Research Literature Synthesis

As part of the course students will read peer-reviewed research articles and will analyze the articles applying the knowledge gained from class lectures, discussions, and textbook reading. The analyses will consist of investigating the similarities and differences in ways researchers carried out and reported the research studies on a topic of interest to the student. The final research literature synthesis will consist of the synthesis of literature based on the analyses carried out throughout the course. A minimum of 15 articles must be from at least three different peer reviewed research journals and must include different kinds of research methodologies.

Project 4: Learning Presentation

The students will present their research literature syntheses and their learning throughout the semester in an equivalent 10–15 minute PowerPoint presentation. The presentation will consist of two parts. The first part will include a presentation of the literature synthesis, focusing on the relationship between research design and findings as contributions to the field/topic. The second part will consist of 3-5 key concepts from the content of the class that the student identifies and explains to the audience.